Emirates To Grab World's Longest Flight Title With Panama Service

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Aug. 14, 2015, 3:35 PM GMT

By Stephen Verdi

Emirates Airline announced Thursday it will begin nonstop service from Dubai to Panama City on Feb. 1, a 17-hour, 35-minute trip that will be the world's longest passenger flight.

Qantas currently holds the mark for its Dallas-Sydney route, a flight that lasts just under 17 hours.

The Emirates flight will not be a historic record-setter, however. Singapore Airlines formerly had a nearly 19-hour flight from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, but canceled it in 2013.

The Dubai-Panama City flight will mark the first time the airline has flown to Central America.

“Panama City will be our first destination gateway in Central America, providing a convenient option for our passengers travelling from or through our global hub in Dubai and onward to destinations throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America,” Emirates CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement on the airline’s website.

Emirates has been aggressively adding routes recently, including service to Madrid, London, and Melbourne. It also plans to add flights to other this year including Mashhad in Iran, Orlando, Florida, Bamako in Mali, and Bologna in Italy.